1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a riding front mower having a grass cutting unit connectable to a front portion and a grass catcher connectable to a rear portion thereof, and particularly to such a front mower having dirigible rear wheels.
2. Description of the Related Art
This type of front mower has the advantages that its excellent steerability enables the mower easily to engage in a grass cutting operation while running near trees and the like and that the ground under a grass cutting treatment may be visually observed to facilitate the operation. Generally, however, this type of mower has a relatively high center of gravity of its body since the engine is mounted on a rearward portion of the body above the dirigible rear wheels. Consequently, compared with other types of mower, this type of mower lacks in stability when running on inclined terrains. Further, since the engine is disposed close to axles of the dirigible rear wheels, a problem of space is encountered when, for example, an attempt is made to employ what is known as a caster type steering structure for swiveling the rear wheels about a single vertical axis. To solve this problem, a proposal has been made in U.S. Pat. No. 4,887,686 to place the engine in a lower forward position. However, a grass cutting operation still appears to be more or less difficult with this mower since the engine is not sufficiently low and a driver's seat is on an elevated level above the engine.